Industrial and process control systems include various types of control equipment used in industrial production, such as Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems, Distributed Control Systems (DCS), and other control equipment using, for example, Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC). These control systems are typically used in industries including electrical, water, oil, gas, and data. Using information collected from remote stations in the field, automated and/or operator-driven supervisory commands can be transmitted to field control devices. These field devices control local operations, such as opening and closing valves and breakers, collecting data from sensor systems, and monitoring a local environment for alarm conditions.
For example, SCADA systems typically use open-loop control with sites that may be widely separated geographically, using potentially unreliable or intermittent low-bandwidth/high-latency links. These systems use Remote Terminal Units (RTUs) to send supervisory data to a control center. The RTUs may have a limited capacity for local controls when the master station is not available. DCS systems are generally used for real time data collection and control with high-bandwidth, low-latency data networks. PLCs typically provide Boolean logic operations, timers, continuous control, and so on. However, as industrial control systems evolve, new technologies are combining aspects of these various types of control systems. For instance, Programmable Automation Controllers (PACs) can include aspects of SCADA, DCS, and PLCs.
SCADA systems can be used with industrial processes, including manufacturing, production, power generation, fabrication, and refining. They can also be used with infrastructure processes, including water treatment and distribution, wastewater collection and treatment, oil and gas pipelines, electrical power transmission and distribution, wind farms, large communication systems, and so forth. Further, SCADA systems can be used in facility processes for buildings, airports, ships, space stations, and the like (e.g., to monitor and control Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) equipment and energy consumption). DCS systems are generally used in large campus industrial process plants, such as oil and gas, refining, chemical, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, water and wastewater, pulp and paper, utility power, mining, metals, and so forth. PLCs are typically used in industrial sectors and with critical infrastructures.